Another way to do straight line quilting is with channel locks. Not sure if HQ offers such a product. Channel locks are normally used when doing straight lines E2E, they also come in handy for basting.
I love ruler work. The first time I tried it though, I found it awkward and unwieldy, but I kept practicing and using them and it didn't take long before I felt quite comfortable with just about any template. Like all things quilting, it just takes patience and practice. I use rulers for all my SID and I even used rulers to help guide the LA when ditching applique. But then you have to constantly manipulate the ruler and go slowly.
You still need to do a certain degree of marking with rulers, like registration points to line things up.